1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing structure for a head lamp module of an automobile, and more particularly to a fixing structure for a head lamp module of an automobile in which the head lamp module is coupled to a bracket of a carrier by means of a clip, thereby being capable of achieving simple attachment/detachment of the head lamp module relative to the carrier of the automobile without requiring disassembly of a bumper.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the body of an automobile, defining the a of the automobiles, is comprised of a passenger compartment, an engine room or trunk compartment, fender, and the like. Such an automobile body is divided into a front body, a center body, and a rear body, which are successively arranged in a longitudinal direction on an automobile.
The front body is mounted with a carrier for use in the assembling of head lamps, a radiator, a condenser, a bumper, etc. Integral assembly of the headlamps, radiator, condenser, bumper, etc. with the body panel has the effect of improving their assembling efficiency, and of ring the number of elements to be assembled, and their assembling time.
FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a structure for fixing a head lamp module to a carrier of an automobile according to the prior art. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the head lamp module generally comprises a lens 2, a bezel 3, a reflector 5, a bulb 7, a housing 9, and approximately three to four fixing elements. The fixing elements are mainly provided at the housing 9 to mount the head lamp module 1 to the automobile carrier. Here, the fixing elements to be coupled to the automobile carrier must have a strong enough strength capable of bearing the weight of the head lamp module 1 as well as any load caused when traveling. Further, the fixing elements must be easily coupled to or separated from the automobile carrier.
Such fixing elements, used to mount the head lamp module 1 to the carrier 10, includes: a fixing panel piece 13 formed at an upper portion of the housing 9 so as to be bolted to a predetermined location of a top surface portion 10a of the carrier 10; and a bracket 15 formed at a lateral portion of the housing 9 to be bolted to a predetermined location of a front surface portion 10b of the carrier 10.
When the head lamp module 1 is mounted to the carrier 10 by means of the fixing elements and in turn, a bumper 12 is mounted to the carrier 10, the bracket 15, serving to fix the head lamp module 1 to the carrier 10, is located behind the bumper 12 and concealed by the bumper 12 so as not to be exposed to the outside.
This means that, in order to exchange partial elements of the head lamp module 1 or the head lamp module 1 itself when the head lamp module 1 is damaged or broken down, the bumper 12 must be first separated from the carrier 10, and then bolts used to fix the fixing panel piece 13 and the bracket 15 must be released to separate the head lamp module 1 from the carrier 10.
In general, a head lamp selves as a light to illuminate a driver's visual field at night or when passing though a tunnel, and tends to be frequently damaged due to automobile crashes or other environmental factors. Therefore, in such a head lamp, it is important that the damaged head lamp be easily exchanged with a new one without requiring separation of any other associated elements. Separation of other associated elements, such as a bumper, causes an increase in repair costs and time.
In the conventional fixing slue of the head lamp module as mentioned above, however, the bumper must be first separated from the head lamp module in order to exchange the head lamp module, thus making it impossible to achieve rapid repair of the head lamp module.